Tristan + Isolde (2006)
Country: GER/CZ/GB/US
Technical: col 125m
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Cast: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell,
Synopsis:
Tristan is adopted by King Mark of Cornwall after his family is killed by marauding Irish invaders whose interest is to keep the English tribes from uniting under one leader. Years later Tristan champions his king's claim to the Irish princess in a tournament mounted by her father with the same motive, little suspecting that it is the same girl who nursed him to health and loved him during his sojourn on Irish soil.
Review:
Remarkably close to the legend, save for the omission of any mention of 'potion', skirted at one point when Isolde is shown to be adept with the herbs and roots of her native land. Unfortunately, therefore, there is nothing to excuse the couple's pursuit of passion when in Cornwall, and its corollary, a denial of honour and duty, save the strength of their feeling for each other, which cinema is powerless to convey unless there is a concomitant degree of chemistry between the leads (not the case here). All we are left with, then, is a tiresomely conventional tale of betrayal, exposure and redemption through self-sacrifice, with plenty of opportunity for Reynolds to indulge in bloodthirsty action.
Country: GER/CZ/GB/US
Technical: col 125m
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Cast: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell,
Synopsis:
Tristan is adopted by King Mark of Cornwall after his family is killed by marauding Irish invaders whose interest is to keep the English tribes from uniting under one leader. Years later Tristan champions his king's claim to the Irish princess in a tournament mounted by her father with the same motive, little suspecting that it is the same girl who nursed him to health and loved him during his sojourn on Irish soil.
Review:
Remarkably close to the legend, save for the omission of any mention of 'potion', skirted at one point when Isolde is shown to be adept with the herbs and roots of her native land. Unfortunately, therefore, there is nothing to excuse the couple's pursuit of passion when in Cornwall, and its corollary, a denial of honour and duty, save the strength of their feeling for each other, which cinema is powerless to convey unless there is a concomitant degree of chemistry between the leads (not the case here). All we are left with, then, is a tiresomely conventional tale of betrayal, exposure and redemption through self-sacrifice, with plenty of opportunity for Reynolds to indulge in bloodthirsty action.
Country: GER/CZ/GB/US
Technical: col 125m
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Cast: James Franco, Sophia Myles, Rufus Sewell,
Synopsis:
Tristan is adopted by King Mark of Cornwall after his family is killed by marauding Irish invaders whose interest is to keep the English tribes from uniting under one leader. Years later Tristan champions his king's claim to the Irish princess in a tournament mounted by her father with the same motive, little suspecting that it is the same girl who nursed him to health and loved him during his sojourn on Irish soil.
Review:
Remarkably close to the legend, save for the omission of any mention of 'potion', skirted at one point when Isolde is shown to be adept with the herbs and roots of her native land. Unfortunately, therefore, there is nothing to excuse the couple's pursuit of passion when in Cornwall, and its corollary, a denial of honour and duty, save the strength of their feeling for each other, which cinema is powerless to convey unless there is a concomitant degree of chemistry between the leads (not the case here). All we are left with, then, is a tiresomely conventional tale of betrayal, exposure and redemption through self-sacrifice, with plenty of opportunity for Reynolds to indulge in bloodthirsty action.